During the course of everyday travel, pedestrians or persons travelling by way of relatively small vehicles, such as bicycles and scooters, to name a few, may not be equipped with electronic communication systems, such as electronic horns and/or lights, that are frequently used by larger vehicles such as cars, trucks, and the like. Consequently, challenges may be presented to pedestrians or to persons operating these small vehicles in effectively communicating with operators of nearby vehicles or pedestrians, for example, to avoid collisions and/or otherwise communicate information to such persons.
Additionally or alternatively, the popularity of personal media players and vehicle-equipped audio systems has provided challenges in communication between pedestrians and/or operators of small vehicles and nearby pedestrians and/or vehicles due to such sound-generating devices “drowning out” other sounds. Some devices, such as noise-cancelling headphones, are designed to block and inhibit external sounds from reaching a user's ear. Similarly, vehicle audio systems frequently come equipped with powerful amplifiers and high quality speakers such that the vehicle's audio system can produce sound that is loud enough to effectively inhibit external sounds from reaching the occupants of the vehicle.
Furthermore, the communication devices presently available typically do not create any unusual or distinctive sounds, and as a result, can blend in with background noise. Additionally or alternatively, the sound produced by these devices may not be sufficiently loud in order to be recognized over other various noises that can bombard a nearby pedestrians and/or operators of other vehicles. For example, the volume of city traffic has been measured at levels as high as 70 decibels.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a device for communicating with nearby pedestrians and/or operators of other vehicles that can effectively be recognized by such persons amongst the presence of other background sounds. It would further be desirable to produce such devices that are programmable so that distinctive and/or desirable sounds can be generated therefrom.